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Cover Story by Lori Montgomery Dave Bidini has a couple of different passions, which fortunately don’t get in each other’s way. With two books under his belt, the Rheostatics’s rhythm guitarist and scribbler of wacky liner notes is also carving out a solid career as a writer. On a Cold Road (1998) was a compendium of CanCon touring tales, and he’s also contributed to two anthologies, including Paul Quarrington’s The Original Six, in which Bidini offered a portrait of depression-era Chicago Blackhawk goalie Charlie Gardiner. "One gives way to the other," Bidini muses. "Luckily, in both arenas, I’m able to work with relatively elastic groups, whether it’s the band or whether it’s the publisher. If I have to go on tour, it’s cool with McLelland & Stewart, and if I have to write, it’s cool with the band. I’m lucky in that sense, I think." It’s a good thing that both of his jobs make room for his other passion: hockey. His latest book is Tropic Of Hockey: My Search For The Game In Unlikely Places, which traces the development of the game worldwide. "It’s about travelling to China and the Middle East and Transylvania to play hockey and to discover what the game is like beyond conventional boundaries, and what it’s like as a new game," he explains. "It’s about the players who play it and why they play it – hopefully seeing a bit of a reflection of Canadian culture in these faraway places." NHL hockey is "corporate hockey," he says, and he prefers to spend his time thinking about the game as it evolves in recreational leagues all over the world. "In Hong Kong, the most popular rink is really like a quarter the size of any rink we would find in North America – it’s very narrow," he says. "It’s almost as if you’re trapped inside a pinball machine. The puck jumps wildly around the ice, like rollerball or something." In Singapore, in Ireland, in China, Bidini saw a face of the game that was recognizable, yet unique. "It’s just like music would be different from country to country or city to city," he points out. "In any kind of sport, the culture of the game is different. The environment, the people who play it bring their own colour to the game." Bidini will read from both of his books at One Yellow Rabbit’s upcoming cabarets October 26 to 28.

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